Spring Break in Dixie



On the Southwest corner of our state, there's a place they call "Dixie." It's a four hour drive from here, and it's what I consider home. My family lived there from the time I was 8 till I went to college.  It's surrounded by red rock mountains that nearly take your breath away.  It's much warmer there than it is in the Northern part of the state, so many retired people spend their winters there. It's the perfect place to go when you need to escape the winter (or cold, wet spring) blues and get a little sunshine. 



My oldest brother and sister both live there with their families, as well as my parents.  So we go a few times a year.  This weekend, it was the end of our kids' Spring Break, so we left Friday morning to spend a few days there.  My nephew also just returned from serving a two-year mission in Spain and was speaking in Church about it on Sunday, so that gave us one more reason to go! 

Let me tell you, it's not a relaxing picnic packing six kids including two toddlers into a minivan and traveling four hours.  But we're so glad we went!





Snow Canyon State Park



Almost every time we go to St. George, we spend an afternoon at Snow Canyon State Park.  It's a canyon made up of red and white rock mountains. It has Sand Dunes, hiking trails and a bike path. At the mouth, there's a huge outdoor amphitheatre where they have incredible Broadway-quality plays every summer.

Saturday, my sister, Michelle (who was also in town) and her family decided to hike to the "Lava Tubes" in Snow Canyon.  They invited us to come along. It's about a 20 minute hike to an underground cave made up of lava rock.



Wait up, Mom!

This weekend provided a lot of "firsts" for Anya. I worried that she wouldn't like hiking, but she just trudged along the whole way without single complaint!  She loves adventure! 





Little Eli did well for the first half-hour or so, then he decided he was ready for a nap. Dad ended up packing him back to the car so he could drive around and get him to sleep.



Waiting for everyone to come out of the big lava cave.

I had to carry Anya on my back the whole way back to the parking lot.  Try lugging 37 pounds on your back for a good 20 minutes  in 85 degree weather. Got my workout in that day!

After our hike, we met at my sister, Heidi's house for an Easter Egg hunt. Her in-laws put it all together and they were so nice to let our crew join in.

Sunday, we went to their family's ward (LDS congregation) to hear Ryan talk about his mission. Wow, what a strong testimony he shared. He had some amazing experiences in Spain and brought the joy of the Gospel to many people.

Here's my sister, Heidi, her hub, Scott and their newly-returned missionary. (Is he a cutie, or what? Look out BYU girls...)



After church, all of the family who came met at their house for a potluck lunch.  The kids ran around and played in the back yard while the adults sat in the shade and visited. 

Anya LOVED all the attention from her cousins. The Grandparents and cousins completely ate her up all weekend.  How can you not fall in love with such a lovey little thing? She kept going up to everyone for hugs.  And her facial expressions can entertain for hours! 

 I hope it's OK we had her around all those people just 3 weeks after coming home.  It sure didn't seem to phase her.  

Grandma Hinton and cousin Jaynee already love Anya so much!







Landon and his cousin, Sam

My sis, Michelle and cousin, Lisa catching up on life.

Oh, the other "first" that Anya got to experience was swimming! I didn't have my camera with me, but she absolutely loved the pool. Someone had to hang on to her the entire time because she has never been in a body of water and she has NO FEAR! She'll walk right into the deep water.  I think some swimming lessons are definitely in order! 

Things are still going really well with Anya. I think the only challenge we are having attachment-wise is that she will go up to strangers anywhere we go and initiate "conversation" and/or hugs.  Does anyone who has adopted an older child with DS have any pointers for this?  She definitely knows who her family is.... She cries when she gets hurt and seeks us for comfort. But the lack of stranger anxiety has me a little bit concerned.  I know it's normal, but just don't know what to do, short of being mean and telling her NO, right in front of the person. A little awkward. Especially when it's a friend or neighbor or something like that.

OK, time to get going on the house and try to get some kind of exercise in. Looking forward to eventually being done with strep in this family! It has now gone through 3 of us and Bennett woke up this morning and telling me it hurts to swallow. UG!